Around 1100 B.C., the Bible recounts, an angel of God appeared to a young Israelite named Gideon. The Israelites were under the heel of the Midianites, and God had chosen Gideon to vanquish the foe. With a band of just 300 warriors, Gideon stole into the enemy

camp by night and set off a barrage of

bright lights and loud noises, creating

the illusion ofa vast army. In a panic, the

Midianites fled.

Arlel, the wizard of biomechanics, is framed by a photograph and computer printout of Jimmy Connors' leaping serve. Computer analysis shows Connors could hit the ball harder with his feet on the ground.

Gideon Ariel is in the business of improving human performance, but even he would be hard-pressed to make any suggestions to his biblical namesake. In a way, this modern-day Gideon is a warrior, too, but his battlefield is the body and his foe its failure to live up to potential. His weapons are the toys of the electronic age-sonic pens, high-speed cameras and, of course, computers. "All I care about," he says, "is that all participants achieve their optimum."

To see that they do, Ariel has become the passionate promoter and lonely practitioner of something called Computerized Biomechanical Analysis. That's what the sign says over the

PEOPLE September 1979